Whats popular?

[gjcwilliams]

Hi,

I have recently purchased a sky watcher 130p and am looking for accessories to enhance my experience based on whats currently popular in the community. I have searched the forum and Google and found many accessories such as eyepieces however many are no longer in stock in various retailers so thought I would ask the question to get up to date recommendations. If it makes any difference I am in the UK.

The only accessories I have purchased so far are a moon filter and a 2.5 revelation barlow lens. I am still using the eyepieces which came with the scope.

I came across telrads yesterday and they seem to have really good reviews and I am considering purchasing one, does anyone have any alternatives they think I should consider prior to purchasing a telrad?

Can anyone recommend any particular eyepieces which are popular at present and any sizes I should consider?

In a nutshell I am trying to determine accessories which are popular that I may be unaware of so I can do some research and potentially purchase them if I think i could benefit from them?

Thanks in advance!

[Steep]

A good alternative to the Telrad for your scope would be a Rigel Quickfinder, same basic thing but smaller and cheaper, the Telrad is great but very big. Budget for a collimator of some kind, I think I'm right in believing that the mirrors on your scope are adjustable and they will need truing up from time to time to give you the best focus.

[Qualia]

You have a Newtonian and it's a relatively fast scope, an f5, so you'll need to collimate it quite regularly. If I were you, before thinking about purchasing anything, I'd use a little money for a collimation tool like a Cheshire and collimation cap. If you don't do a little collimating, you're not really going to know or appreciate what your telescope is capable of, you're going to end up with poor visual images and cripple the aperture of your reflector.

Spend your time using the scope before considering any upgrades! After a few sessions with your well collimated telescope, you might want to consider up-grading the eyepieces, for the supplied 10mm and 25mm are probably not that great and are more than likely doing an injustice to your primary mirror.

Your reflector is going to be a wonderful instrument for scanning Milky Way star fields, open star clusters, globulars and other large astronomical objects. In view of this, and in light of the rather poor finderscope the 130p is supplied with, you might want to think about getting a decent widefield plossl around 32mm and a Telrad. That way, not only do you have a lovely EP to scan the cosmos but it doubles with the Telrad as an excellent tool for learning the art of star hopping which may suggests that at some stage you might want to get yourself a Star Atlas. To make your observation session a little more comfortable you might want to get yourself a cheap drum stoll or ironing chair.

Overall, I think you should have a lot of fun with this scope. Check out sketches to get an idea of what you will be viewing, dress warmly and take your time.

Othere than that, you didn't mention you budget, GJC, so it's quite tricky to offer EP suggestions without bearing this in mind.

Nevertheless, your f/5 is not going to be very kind on cheap-range eyepieces, especially if you want wide field of views.

So, from where I'm sitting, extracting budget from the equation, and purely looking at quality glass, it looks like the Explore Scientific ES80 and ES100 range, the Meade 5000 UWA range, the Tele Vue Naglers, Delos, Ethos, Panoptic range etc, William Optics UWAN's and Skywatcher Nirvanas come recommended time and time again. BSTs and X-Cels LXs also get a nice look in when we're considering cheaper mid-range EPs.

If field of view and perhaps eye-relief wasn't a big concern, then for top quality planetary eyepieces buying into a set of Baader Genuine Orthos would be a good move. Indeed, from the reviews it appears the quality of image is about as good as it gets.

I also think that if one's budget couldn't afford a set of Naglers or ES 100s, for example, then Tele Vue's Plossl range will show as good a quality image as the more expensive glass, but obviously with less field of view. Needless to say, eye-relief with plossls can be uncomfortable, so I wouldn't recommend going less than 11mm.

Hope that helps a little, oh and welcome to SGL

[RMcCallum]

Look no further than the BST starguiders/explorers. Fantastic eyepieces for under £50, great for your first upgrade to serious EPs. I have the 5mm, 18mm, and the 25mm and looking to get the 8mm when back in stock. Of the three the 18mm is my favourite followed by the 25mm and finally the 5mm (as only really good seeing conditions allow me to get this baby out.)

Like me in the future you will probably want to get some more serious EPs such as the Tele Vue or the Explore Scientific, but for now the BSTs tick all the boxes and some.

[LukeSkywatcher]

Being in or near a major city like Liverpool, i would think a light pollution filter would be very useful. I live about 20Km southof Dublin (on the coast) and my light pollution filter serves me well.

[AndyWB]

I'm still quite new at this, but I found the 12mm BST much better than the 10mm that came with the scope, and I've had some good views of Jupiter with the 5mm - but only with good conditions. Don't order the 8mm or 18mm though - I want them next! (Although I have been thinking along the same lines as Qualia suggests - possibly a widefield plossl of some form first).

I would suggest a vital accessory at the moment is a down jacket - or something really warm at least. And a hat. Also useful when not observing...

[swamp thing]

1362939491[/url'>' post='1862185']

You have a Newtonian and it's a relatively fast scope, an f5, so you'll need to collimate it quite regularly.

It is fast, but the lightweight mirror (its only a 5" scope) should hold collimation for considerable time. It's weight that makes mirrors move in their cells after all. I've found most mirrors under 10" seldom need much attention. At around 10" the weight of the primary starts to make collimation more of an issue. As you said speed means it will need to be more accurately collimated when it does need doing, but it's light weight should make that necessity pretty infrequent.

A collimator of some description is still a good idea though.

[Obi Wan Ken00bi]

Look no further than the BST starguiders/explorers. Fantastic eyepieces for under £50, great for your first upgrade to serious EPs. I have the 5mm, 18mm, and the 25mm and looking to get the 8mm when back in stock. Of the three the 18mm is my favourite followed by the 25mm and finally the 5mm (as only really good seeing conditions allow me to get this baby out.)

Like me in the future you will probably want to get some more serious EPs such as the Tele Vue or the Explore Scientific, but for now the BSTs tick all the boxes and some.

I'll second that. The BST offer great views and I feel like these things are going to live longer than myself...

[inedible_hulk]

+1 for the BSTs and Cheshire. I have the Rigel Quick-finder and a 9x50 finder on my wish list for my 130P

[inedible_hulk]

Oh, and probably my most useful purchase:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Sky-Telescopes-Pocket-Atlas/dp/1931559317

[gjcwilliams]

Thanks everyone for you feedback much appreciated!!! I will be sure to check out some of the products mentioned.

[Rich MedRev]

Looks like everyone's got this covered, the only thing I would add is a nite lite style torch to check the star altas and I would advocate a monks hood when viewing in urban areas to block stray lights etc.

[JamesM]

The one biggest difference you can make to the view your scope can offer, is to take it to as local a dark site as possible as the increase in contrast when viewing deep sky objects (DSO's) by viewing against a darker background sky will certainly be noticeable.

Clear skies and don't forget to download Stellarium if you haven't already as it will compliment books like Turning Left at Orion in finding and identifying objects in the night sky. You might want to look here to get an idea of how the book is laid out and by definition why it is so popular among many who are starting out.

James

[Helite]

Just to throw a beginners point of view into the mix a little, I really like my Vixen NPL's, have 3 of them for my 200p now, they are also relatively cheap http://www.firstligh...-eyepieces.html I bought them after seeing a couple of people on here recommending them and I must say I think they are a good improvement on the standard ones. And as said previously, stellarium, its a complete must have!